Career
He played for the Saint George Dragons, the Saint George Illawarra Dragons and the Cronulla Sharks. He primarily played in the second row, though he also played prop forward. While attending Kingsgrove High School, Thompson was selected to play for the Australian Schoolboys team in 1994 and 1995.
He played his junior football with Hurstville United.
Dragons
Thompson made his first grade debut in Round 13, Street George v Cronulla at Toyota Park, 24 June 1995 as a 17-year-old. He played for the club until the end of 1998.
Thompson played at second-row forward for the Saint George Illawarra Dragons in their 1999 NRL Grand Final loss to the Melbourne Storm. During his many years at the Dragons, Lance Thompson was a crowd favourite at Kogarah and Wollongong, and it caused some controversy amongst supporters when he departed at the end of the 2005 season.
Sharks
During 2006, Thompson"s appearances for Cronulla against his former side, Street George Illawarra, were highly anticipated.
The first of these matches saw Thompson scoring two tries, and the second involved Dragon Dean Young being injured in a Thompson tackle, sidelining Young for most of the 2007 season. Thompson played his final NRL game in Round 6 against the Penrith Panthers after announcing his retirement from Rugby League on Wednesday, 16 April. In a press conference, Thompson explained that the reason for this decision was an ongoing knee injury sustained in 2007 and because he was diagnosed with type one diabetes and that he had "one last game left in him." Cronulla Sharks coach Ricky Stuart gave Thompson his last game in Round 6 for his "last hurrah." Thompson scored a try early in the match but Cronulla lost the game 20–21 in golden point.
Thompson later became coach of the Cronulla side in the reserve-grade New South Wales Cup competition.
He now owns a restaurant.
